


the last great american dynasty

by heartofsilverseas



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil as Found Family, Found Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Isle of the Lost (Disney), Isle of the Lost (Disney) is a Terrible Place, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing, United States of Auradon (Disney), United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect, no beta we die like the vk’s childhood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26695456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartofsilverseas/pseuds/heartofsilverseas
Summary: Mal grows up like every other kid on the Isle, running through the streets and the markets and the crumpled buildings and the dumpsters, with hand-shaped bruises and a constantly empty stomach.
Relationships: Ben & Mal (Disney: Descendants), Evie & Carlos de Vil, Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil, Evie & Jay (Disney), Evie & Mal (Disney), Jay & Carlos De Vil, Jay & Mal (Disney), Mal & Carlos de Vil
Comments: 12
Kudos: 96





	1. there goes the maddest woman is town has ever seen

In the beginning, there is Mal. 

Mal, the fake-Fae, the wannabe, the pretender, the rip-off. Mal.

Mal grows up like every other kid on the Isle, running through the streets and the markets and the crumpled buildings and the dumpsters, with hand-shaped bruises and a constantly empty stomach.

Mal grows up like every other kid on the Isle, filled with _never let them see you cry, little girl_ and _fuck off, bitch!_ and _you're a disgrace_ and _don't bother coming home tonight._

Mal grows up like every other kid on the Isle; hungry, sharp, bitter, and always ready for a fight. 

Mal meets him in the marketplace, age nine with a red mark fresh on her cheek. Well, she doesn't meet him so much as he tries to rob her, but. Specifics. 

Her hand grips his wrist once it leaves her pocket, a ruby bracelet clutched in his hand. She doesn't really care for the bracelet—it's an ugly one—but Mother tells her to not let a man take anything from her, and who is she to disobey? He stills as she smiles at him the evil smile she's been practicing in the mirror every other day, and he rips his hand from hers and runs. Mal grins, _really_ grins, and gives chase.

They run across the market to the streets, weaving in and out of alleys, and she loses him once, twice, but she always finds him again. Gradually, the chase turns from aggressive to almost playful, and she lets out a giggle halfway through. (She thinks it might be her first one.)

When she catches him (Which she does. He's good, but she's Maleficent's daughter, which means that she's _better_ ), they're both out of breath, heaving, gasping, hands on their knees and smiles on their lips. He flinches when she approaches, though, and the smile leaves. 

"I'm Mal," she says simply, shoving her hands in her pockets.

He replies, "I know." She raises one eyebrow but says nothing. He leaves.

They chase each other every day after that, running, hair whipping in the wind. She learns he's Jay, Jafar's son, his favourite colour is brown, and that he isn't allowed to go home until he steals something 'worth Jafar's time'. He hasn't gone home in weeks.

When Mal learns this, her eyes flare green, and Jay doesn't mention it again.

At eleven, Mal meets her in an alley, crying, begging a man not to hurt her, to let her go, for somebody to "please, help, please!"

Mal, in a seldom good mood, takes down the man with two nerve strikes (plus a slice of her dagger, just to be mean). "Who the fuck are you?" Mal barks at the new girl.

The girl just stares and automatically says, "It’s impolite for a woman to swear," in such a familiar tone that Mal laughs, cruel and loud.

"You're Evil Queen's little princess, aren't you? The one she's been hiding away?" Because Mal has heard those words before, and knows _exactly_ where they came from. 

The girl flinches and says, "I'm Evie," in such a quiet voice that Mal can barely hear her.

"Well, Evie," she finds herself saying, "Let me show you around the good ol' fucking isle." And that was that.

Mal's thirteen when she sees him tinkering with scraps of metal, tinkering with coils of wire, always tinkering in her peripheral every time she goes to dumpster #239.

It annoys her almost as much as fascinates, the way he can spend hours staring and playing with metal that won't even _do_ anything, so one day she nods towards him and says, "The force field doesn't let any signal in, shit-for-brains."

He flinches, but says, "I know but look, come here, see, there's a weak spot in the force field, right here," and Mal watches as he hits a bunch of knobs and switches on the metal box he has clutched in his hands, and suddenly, _it starts to talk._

She realises it's a radio halfway through and her eyes widen. "You're smart, I'll give you that," she says reluctantly, and something warms in her chest when he visibly lights up. "I'm keeping you," she decides a moment later, when the radio starts talking about makeup tips she knows Evie will love, and the boy, Cruella's boy, Carlos, Mal remembers, doesn't argue as she leads him towards where Jay and Evie will meet her later on.

They're nothing, just kids growing up in the Isle, stealing, terrorising, like any other person they know. It's how they are, how they'll always be. They're meant to grow up mean, bitter, and unloving with meaner, more bitter, and more unloving parents. 

And they do. The Isle hardens their hearts, their shields, their eyes, and sharpens their minds, their weapons, and their words. They adapted to hit, and to wound, and to kill, because on the Isle, it's hurt or be hurt.

And they get hurt. A lot. Too much. 

Jay's feet are calloused and dry, drier than Mal's ever seen on any other kid, because Jafar constantly kicks him out in the middle of the night with a "Be useful for once, you little shit, and go get me something," so he wanders the streets in dirt-cheap dumpster shoes until dawn comes, and then he lies low until Jafar forgets he has a son again.

Evie's skin is so white, so pale it's vampire-ish, because Evil Queen locks her daughter up for weeks, no sun, no food, just sewer water to drink, screaming at her to "Be slimmer, be paler, be prettier, no prince would want you like this! I'm fixing you!"

Carlos' ankles are littered with jagged lines, scars that come from bear traps that awfully resemble bite marks from dogs, and his hand shake from night terrors that Cruella fills him with, furry hellhounds that hunt and hunt and creep in the dark until the right moment, then, they _pounce._

And Mal tries, she _does._ She massages Jay's feet and steal from Maleficent, jewels that her mother would never miss, and gives them to Jay to give to his father. She makes Evie go out in the sun as much as possible while filling her with reassurances (with barbed edges, of course, she isn't _soft_ ) that she is beautiful, she is worthy, she doesn't need to skip a meal or five to become thinner, slimmer, prettier. She bandages Carlos' ankles and coax him into dark alleys to show that "there aren't any dogs there, Carlos, it's okay, there aren't, see?"

She does try, but it's just so _hard_ when her cheeks are constantly red with slaps and Maleficent always calls her _fake-Fae_ and _rip-off bitch_ and she doesn't know why it still hurts, after fourteen years of being called names but it _does_ and it _hurts so goddamn much._

But it's okay, because they might be four kids growing up in the Isle, but they grow up less hungry than the rest, because they share whatever slimy food they find in the dumpsters. They grow up sharper than the rest, because they sharpen themselves on each others' edges until they were all more like knives and daggers then blunt stones. They grow up less bitter than the rest because, while their parents didn't show any more love than all the other parents on the Isle, they knew what love was, could see it in each other's eyes, in their bodies, in their words. They grow up more ready for a fight than the rest, to protect whatever they have. (A family.)

There are good days, sometimes. It's not whenever that peppy Auradon person on the radio says, "It's a good day today!" It's whenever all their parents coincidentally forget that their children exist.

It's whenever they can spend whole weeks together, ruling the school and the streets, finding some actual food with barely any mold or ants in it. 

It's whenever Evie giggles and twirls and wraps them up in ripped measuring tape so that she could gather whatever scraps she'd find and make them all some clothes. It's whenever Carlos laughs and machines move before his eyes, sparks flying and metal grinding. It's whenever Jay returns with bloody fists and a triumphant grin on his lips. It's whenever Mal cackles gleefully as she sketches cartoonish versions of her gang.

It's a good day whenever they all go to their base (their home), a warehouse that they have claimed their own, and Carlos and Jay wrestle on the floor, with Mal shouting out corrections and scathing remarks while Evie watches attentively, soaking up the fight so that she can learn some of the moves later on. 

It's a good day whenever they walk down a school hallway, Mal in the middle, her boys on her left and her girl on her right, while the students part like the red sea and the teachers' hands shake when they see them.

It's a good day whenever they all climb on top of the pile of rugs in the corner of their base, elbows flying and legs tangled until they fall asleep, cuddling.

Then there are bad days, whenever Evil Queen decides that her daughter is too fat, too tan, and whenever Cruella decides that her bear traps and her furs and her chandeliers need cleaning, and whenever Jafar decides that his piles of jewellery and various other shiny things aren't enough, and whenever Maleficent decides her daughter doesn't know how much of a failure she is.

It's a bad day whenever the only thing they can eat is moldy bread and rain water gathered in rusted buckets, hunger gnawing on their stomachs while their cheeks hollow and their ribs jut out.

It's a bad day whenever winter hits and, though they cuddle every night, their noses and their toes go numb in the cold, even with Evie's many attempts to create gloves and scarves and blankets out of torn cloth.

It's a bad day whenever they stumble in the base with broken bones, cracked ribs, and stab wounds, retreating from gang fights and turf wars to lick their wounds.

It's a bad day whenever Evie sobs and applies layers upon layers of makeup with a shattered piece of a beer bottle as her mirror, or whenever Carlos flinches and eyes every shadow in every corner, or whenever Jay's fingers itch when something shiny catches his eye, or whenever Maleficent's voice floods Mal's head every time her eyes glow green.

It's hell, but it's bearable. Sometimes, Mal opens her eyes and stares at the ceiling, wondering why she had to get up this morning, why she has to get up _ever._ Then she thinks of Evie and Jay and Carlos, her family in all but blood, and Dizzy and Uma and Gil and Harry and countless others who are mostly annoying but great allies (friends) to have, and she thinks, "Oh. That's why."

And whenever Maleficent is shouting at her, screaming at her, threatening her, slapping her, beating her with her staff, she pictures Evie's dress designs drawn in the dirt, Carlos' eyes sparkling when sparks fly, Jay's cackle when he flips on rooftops, and squeezes her eyes and thinks, "Just survive one more day. For them."

Mal almost thought that it wouldn't work, that her beautiful makeshift family would crumble apart like every other family and friendship on the Isle. but they don't. Slowly but surely, they start to improve. 

Once a month, they all try to have a day where they leave all their insecurities, a day for Evie to take her makeup off and the pins out of her hair, for Jay to keep his twitching hands to himself, for Carlos to be able to walk in a dark alley without hesitation or balking, for Mal to push Maleficent's voice out of her head and to stop her eyes from flaring.

It's hard, but slowly they make it work, until once a month turns into once a week into every other day, and Mal couldn't be more proud.

Her family is finally better, finally healing from all the scars their parents are still inflicting upon them, and for a moment, Mal thinks that this could actually work out for them.

Then Prince Benjamin decides to ship them all to Auradon, and everything promptly goes to shit.


	2. free of women with madness, their men and bad habits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Auradon isn't the perfect little heaven that they all imagined, back when they were hunting scraps from trashcans and the only bright things in sight were lights from the buildings that were an ocean away.

When an Auradon person on the radio, different to the one thar Evie listens to biweekly for beauty tips, announces joyfully that it's “Prince Benjamin's fifteenth birthday today,” Mal doesn't really give a shit.

But Carlos does. "What's a birthday?" He asks, rolling the last word in his mouth. Jay and Evie both look to Mal, apparently not knowing what a birthday was either.

"It's literally just that," Mal explains, "The day of when a person claws their way into the world. The Auradon people remember that day and celebrate it every year."

"They actually keep track?" Jay wrinkles his nose. "Out parents barely told us our birth year." Carlos nods in agreement. Finding out how old they were was actually more than what some of the other kids on the Isle got.

"Since the prince has a birthday, we should get one too!" Evie squeals. Mal sighs. Evie had only escaped Evil Queen's you-should-always-admire-and-do-what-a-prince-is-doing lessons a couple of days ago, and she had yet to snap out of her 'worshipping princes' phase that she always has after them.

Bur upsetting Evie so soon after a session with Evil Queen was Not An Option, so Mal sighs again and says, "Okay, dumbasses, what day do you guys want?"

Evie and Mal pick theirs relatively quickly, but apparently, Jay and Carlos somehow manage to pick _the same fucking day,_ and are arguing about it even though, "There are literally another 362 days, just pick one!"

But Jay and Carlos can't compromise for shit, so Mal just decides for all four of them to share the same date as their birthday, because, "I just want to eat my rotten apple in peace, guys," accompanied with more sighs seems to do the trick, and Jay and Carlos finally stop arguing. 

On their sixteenth birthday, Carlos gives each of them personalised weapons. For Jay, he presents two curved swords called duo scimitars, which is actually a weapon from Agrabah. Jay, excited to connect with his roots, eagerly takes the blades. The swords have fake jewels built into them, some of the most realistic ones Mal's ever seen, and Jay inspects them before nodding approvingly. Carlos _beams_.

For Mal, it's a knife the length of her forearm, which, with some careful flicks of her wrist, can actually fold in on itself until it's the perfect size to tuck in her boot. There are some _complicated_ mechanics and physics behind that, which Mal has no desire to learn, although, judging by the rapid fire of questions shot, Evie does.

Speaking of Evie, she gets a dagger with a surface so shiny, it could actually double as a mirror, which was probably what Carlos had in mind when he made it. Evie holds in a giggle when she sees it, but _actually_ giggles when she finds out that there's a button to press which can release a stream of poison from the tip of the dagger. 'There's a vial inside the handle," Carlos explains. "Just fill the vial with a poison of your choice and it'll come out when you press the button." Evie just squeals and hugs him. 

("Did you make something for yourself?" Mal asks sternly. "It's your birthday too, y'know." Carlos nods shyly and presents a bo staff which can have spear tips come out of each end. "Nice," She grins, and playfully punches him in the chest.)

Mal gives them each of them a page torn from her sketchbook, the same drawing on each one. It's a sketch of them walking through the school hallway, Mal in the middle with Evie on her right and Jay on her left, with Carlos on Jay's left. They each had wicked grins on their faces and were in various different poses. 

"Come here, guys," Mal says, and leads them outside, to the wall on the side of their base. On it, there is the same drawing, albeit graffitied and enlarged, but that's not the biggest difference—no, leave that to the fact that it's in _colour_. The whole art piece is one big explosion of it, with blacks and whites and reds and blues and purples and browns and greens and yellows. It's their parents' colours, but theirs too. Naturally, they all love it.

Jay and Evie teamed up ("Cheaters," Mal grumbles.) to give them all outfits and stolen jewellery that match their colours. For Mal, it's a black shirt under a striking eggplant-purple leather jacket with hot pink and poison green accents, along with ripped sangria-purple pants and black leather boots. The outfit is accompanied with black fingerless leather gloves and a gold dragon necklace.

For Carlos, it's a black and white leather jacket with fur on the collar and bold red on the sleeves on top of a black sleeveless shirt. His shorts match the black and white colour scheme and the accessories are a pair of red fingerless leather gloves and a fake rabbit's foot hooked to a red, grey, and black belt, topped with brown leather boots.

(Evie and Jay made themselves outfits too, which Mal is pleased about. Good, they finally realised that they're actually worth more than the questionable slimy substances melted with the summer sun on the bottom of her shoe.)

For Jay, it's a leather sleeveless shirt with brown and yellow and blue on it, along with a pair of tough blue long pants that have dark red pockets and gold zippers, and his black boots have velcro straps. It has studded black leather fingerless gloves and his signature red beanie to match.

And, last but not least, Evie. The fashionista has a long-sleeved leather shirt under a studded leather jacket with flared sleeves, all azure with white creeping on the edges, aside from the insides of the sleeves, which are royal red. The leather skirt, spiderweb leggings, and combat boots are all black, although the former two have splashes of blue, red, and white. The outfit also includes a royal red heart pendant and black leather fingerless gloves. And her tiara, of course. The outfit is fit for any princess.

The whole week after that are good days. They feast in the dumpsters and admire Mal's graffitied art and run around on the rooftops and spar. 

Well, it's more like Jay and Carlos spar while Mal teaches Evie a few more moves with her new dagger. The blueberry princess, as Mal has taken to calling her, isn't yet on par with them in fighting skills, but she's getting there. Mal is proud, though. For a princess who was locked up a majority of her life, Evie is picking up skills _fast._

It's been good day after good day, and Mal should have probably taken that as an omen, but she ignores it instead, choosing to soak in the sunlight and the lack of bruises and the feeling of being surrounded by people she loves.

The week after their birthday is good day after good day, which is exactly why everything goes to shit.

So apparently, the prince felt...what, pity? Sad? Hope? Mal doesn't know, but what she does know is that one) she, Carlos, Jay, and Evie are all going to Auradon, _against their will,_ might she add, and two) they're supposed to steal the Fairy Godmother's wand, per their parent's orders. At least she gets a spellbook from her mother, and Evie gets a magic hand mirror from her's. 

All thoughts fade away the moment they see the limo. It's beautiful and sleek and sexy and dark and single-handedly the best car Mal has ever seen in her entire fucking life. Next to her, Evie sucks in a sharp breath while the boys are openly gaping. 

Inside the limo is even better, if that's even possible. The leather doesn't have a single rip or tear in it, but they quickly abandon admiring the seats in favour of the _absolute candy stash_ in the corner. There are chocolate and sweet round things jars labelled with bright, sparkly letters that spell JELLYBEANS and other sugary treats with so many dazzling colours that Mal has to look away.

They stuff their faces with the candy and the chocolate, barely noticing the golden bridge that forms when they cross from the Isle to Auradon. 

But when they do, they all stop for a second, looking at their home from a (literally) different perspective. It's the place that contains their nightmares and their horrors and screaming children in the night, but from up here, it looks so...small. 

The silence is broken when Jay snatches the chocolate bar clutched in Carlos' hands and takes a giant bite. The shouting and the wrestling resume again after that, as if nothing had ever happened.

Jay and Carlos tumble out of the limo, fighting over a blanket. It's not the worst they've ever done—nobody's even brought out _teeth_ yet—but the Auradon people look like it's the most horrid thing they've ever seen. Hell, maybe it is, but Mal isn't going to break up the _seriously amusing_ play-fight just to protect the eyes of 'innocent' Auradonians.

"Jesus Christ, fuckers, get up," Evie quietly hisses at the boys, and wow, the princess is pissed. The two scramble up, brushing off imaginary dirt from their clothes. Mal rolls her eyes. 

Jay and Evie do their standard flirting (although they both get shot down by a princess in some of the rudest ways Mal's ever seen. She mentally notes down to put a few venomous snakes in the princess' bed as soon as she can), Mal shoots a few sassy remarks, and Carlos just looks cute.

The prince is okay, less of a stuck-up brat than mal expected, but the Fairy Godmother is the most condescending bitch Mal has ever had the displeasure of meeting. If that lady was like that on the Isle, she would've been fucked up sideways _twice_ before she would even know what was happening.

But this isn't the Isle, and Mal isn't going to beard the lion in its own den, so they dutifully put back some of the items that they stole while tucking the rest in their many pockets. The fairy looks pleased, which, _seriously?_ Mal can already see a glint of silver sticking out of Evie's pocket and a jellybean sticking out of Carlos', and Mal has a distinct feeling that she needs to start teaching hiding-your-shit lessons more seriously. At least Jay's stuff is all nicely concealed.

When Mak sees the cafeteria, she nearly breaks down. Which would not be a great impression to Auradon Prep, now that she thinks about it, but. 

_But._

It's- it's just so _full,_ practically _bursting_ with food. If they rationed this amount of food, it could last the entire Isle's kids for months. "Oh my _god,_ " Carlos gasps from behind her, and she can't help but agree.

The cafeteria is silent—hushed the moment the VK's arrived, but Mal couldn't care less. She picks up an apple dropped on the floor, and admires the fruit in her hand. It's so shiny and red, plump with only a small bruise, and she bet that if she took a bite, it would be juicy and sweet and the best apple she's ever tasted. "It doesn't even have any mold or worms in it..." she mutters aloud.

Ben, from in front of her, forces a smile. "Yes, well, we do try and provide the best here in Auradon Prep." Mal, still in awe, doesn't even care to point out that his fake smile is shit, and that she could see street urchins do better in their sleep.

Once she puts the apple down, she spots some lady handing out food, legitimately _handing out food,_ like it's hair, or punches, or dirt, like the food means _nothing,_ like it isn't worth looking at for more than a few seconds, like it couldn't save a life or five, like, like, _like-_

Mal pushes down her bubbling anger, and she looks around to see her gang in similar states of fury, but she's taught them the beautiful art of compartmentalisation, so they compose themselves and linger past the trays of food near where the cafeteria lady is, before brushing past. The lady gives them a confused look, but mostly ignores them in favour of giving the student in front of her _more_ food, as if the food he has on his tray wouldn't last him for _days._

Ben trails them after them, looking a little lost when they take a seat at the farthest, most shadowy table. "Why didn't you get any food?" He cocks his head like a curious puppy, although Mal hasn't actually seen a puppy before, so she doesn't know exactly how accurate the comparison is.

"We did,” Mal grins in a 'I know something you don't' way, and, on cue, they empty their pockets and their sleeves, putting fruits and juice cartons and energy bars and so much more on the table. Once everything is out, they start wolfing down the food immediately.

"Wow," Ben stares, transfixed, before shaking his head. "I can't believe I didn't see you guys get it."

"Of course," Evie says between bites of an apple. "If you did, we must've done something wrong."

Sometimes, Mal wishes that they stayed on the Isle instead of moving to Auradon. Sometimes, the students and the teachers and everyone in this fucking _country_ wants them to be perfect, to give love freely, to obey their unspoken rules and their taboos and to listen to their hidden messages and their words and to sit still and look pretty and keep their heads down. They demand and they demand, never caring about the whispers and the sneers and the alienation that Mal and her family go through every single damned day.

Sometimes, Mal can't tell the difference between the Auradonians and her mother, not with the way their eyes burn with disgust and loathing, not with the way their mouths curl in mocking snarls, and certainly not with the way they hold themselves, as if they could command people that aren't even _theirs._

"We were _fine!_ " Mal screams at Ben one day. "We weren't good, but we were _fine!_ We- we didn't need your fucking _pity_ before, and we certainly aren't your charity cases now! Why the fuck can't you just leave us _alone?!_ "

There's silence, and Mal half expects him to scream back at her, throw something, punch a wall, maybe. Unleash his inner beast or whatever. He does none of that. Instead, he looks at her, heaves a sigh, and says quietly, "Did you know that Carlos befriended a dog today?"

Mal heart stutters, and all anger flies out the window. 

"We were running sprints," Ben continues. "When suddenly, Dude, the school's mascot, just popped out of nowhere, and Carlos climbed up a tree to escape him. He was scared out of his mind, but I showed him that Dude was harmless, and now they're practically joined at the hip."

(Later on, when it's just the two of them, Mal wraps her arms around Carlos from behind, her chest pressed against his back, and he stiffens before melting into her hold. "I'm so proud of you." She whispers into his ear. Carlos flushes, but doesn't argue, and it's a win in her book.)

She doesn't apologise to Ben, but he forgives her all the same. She does, on the other hand, mouth him a _thank you_ from the bleachers where she's waiting for Carlos and Jay to finish practice. He grins and waves at her, ignoring his teammates, who are all furiously whispering and not-so-discreetly pointing at her. She rolls her eyes and goes back to studying her spellbook.

Auradon isn't the perfect little heaven that they all imagined, back when they were hunting scraps from trashcans and the only bright things in sight were lights from the buildings that were an ocean away. It's far from it. 

But there's something in the way that two people can hug in public without anyone stabbing them while they're preoccupied, the way she can just _ask_ for what she wants _then actually get it,_ the way that everyone's voices are just so _soft,_ and Mal sometimes startles whenever she hears them, because for sixteen years, she's never heard voices who aren't scratchy from screaming and begging. 

But despite that, she does has her doubts about Auradon. Carlos and his puppy (which Mal is still a little bit in shock about) help shake them down a little bit, but they don't actually disappear until she's changing in their frankly humungous bathroom and lifts her shirt to see that one of her ribs aren't visible.

For a split second, she thinks that it has just _disappeared_ , and it isn't until she pokes around a bit to find that nope, it's still there. "What the fuck," she whispers to herself. "What the _fuck._ "

She calls her gang urgently to the bathroom, and frantically lifts their shirts. "Babe, you could have just asked," Jay comments slyly, but there is an undertone of worry in his voice.

Her panicked, half-made theory is proven correct—one of both Carlos and Jay's ribs aren't visible either, and one of Evie's is in the process of doing so. "We're getting fat." Evie whispers.

"No," Mal shakes her head. "We're getting _healthy._ "

They are...not great exactly, but leaps and bounds from when they were on the Isle. They no longer starve and hollow and thirst and freeze, but they still steal and dart eyes and cuss and stash food. Progress. As she said, leaps and bounds.

Bur then the one thing that they've been studiously ignoring can no longer be ignored anymore. Ben's coronation is a week away, and they still don't have a plan for getting the wand, nor a plan in the making.

"What about the wand? Should we steal it?" Jay asks, lounging on the bed, shoes propped up on an over-stuffed pillow. Before Mal can bite out a "Yeah, of course, bitch," Carlos shakes his head.

"They ain't done shit for us, so why should we do it for them?" And Mal is left speechless, mouth open, but...it's true, isn't it? Their parents have done jack shit for them, hasn't fed them _nearly enough_ or given them clothes nor a bed, even though Jafar is surrounded by so much gold that he could choke on it and Cruella has closets full of the warmest furs in the Isle, yet does nothing but stare and stroke her babies.

"I could drink to that," she says at last, and they all shoot her sloppy grins.


End file.
